Posts Tagged wildland fire

Brush fire – Potawatami Woods, Prospect Heights 3-11-12 (update)

Mar 12

Posted by bgshap in Brush Fire, Fire | Comments off

Tim Olk has submitted several images from the brush fire in Potawatami Woods in Prospect Heights.

brush fire Potawatami Woods Prospect Heights 3-11-12

Firefighters from Prospect Heights address a growing brush fire in the Potawatami Woods Forest Preserve near Dundee and Portwine Roads. Tim Olk photo

Fire travels through tall grasses in the Potawatami Woods Forest Preserve. Tim Olk photo

A firefighter uses a hose to prevent the fire from spreading. Tim Olk photo

A Prospect Heights Fire Department lieutenant oversees the operations on the south end of the large burn area. Tim Olk photo

The officer keeps an eye on the fire's path as a firefighter tries to prevent further spread. Tim Olk photo

Lincolnshire make their way to another area that is burning. Tim Olk photo

brush fire Potawatami Woods Prospect Heights 3-11-12 Long Grove Fire District Brush Truck 55

Firefighters begin to repack equipment onto Long Grove Brush 55 after all fires have been contained. Tim Olk photo

More images can be viewed HERE.

Tags: Alexis Fire Apparatus, brush fire in Potawatami Woods, firefighters fight large flames, large brush fire, Prospect Heights Fire Department, tall grasses burning in forest preserve, Tim Olk, wildland fire

Brush fire in Palatine 3-10-12

Mar 10

Posted by bgshap in Apparatus on-scene, Brush Fire, Fire | Comments off

Saturday, the Palatine Fire Department was called for a brush fire in the Cook County Forest Preserve area roughly bordered by Lake-Cook Road and Rand Road. Setting up on Dee Road which is west of Rand off Lake-Cook, Palatine’s Battalion 8 arrived with Engine 82 and Lake Zurich Engine 4. They found fire burning in tall grass through an area which is largely marshland with almost two feet of soggy ground covering much of the area.

View Larger Map

These conditions prevented the use of brush rigs and access was gained on foot until the Cook County Forest Preserve District Wildland Team arrived. Several pickups with skid-mounted-units came to the scene along with an ATV equipped with a small tank and booster line.

large brush fire in near Palatine IL Cook County Forest Preserve District 3-10-12

Lake Zurich Engine 4 responded auto-aid to the brush fire. They were on a hydrant with a hose line of several hundred feet leading into the grass. Larry Shapiro photo

The Palatine and Lake Zurich companies stretched several hundred feet of attack line to hit what they could reach and to protect potential residential and commercial exposures.

Larry Shapiro spent a couple of hours at the scene and submitted several images.

large brush fire in near Palatine IL Cook County Forest Preserve District 3-10-12 wildland fire

Members of the Cook County Forest Preserve District Wildland team head into the brush. Larry Shapiro photo

The fire was in a big field that largely consisted of muddy marsh lands. Larry Shapiro photo

A firefighter uses a small line off the ATV unit to wet down the grass that has not yet ignited. Larry Shapiro photo

High winds fueled the flames which continued to rage into the evening hours. Larry Shapiro photo

Heavy winds complicated extinguishing the flames and constantly pushed the fire to new fuel. After Palatine had committed all of their suppression companies to the scene and they had been working the incident for over three hours, they initiated a MABAS Brush Fire Box Alarm for additional personnel to the scene and for others to cover their town.

Low humidity, extremely dry conditions, and high winds combined to create ideal conditions for brush or wildland fires. Larry Shapiro photo

As the fire grew in intensity, additional units were requested to the scene to ensure that the fire did not communicate to any structures. Larry Shapiro photo

The fire spread to the east and threatened a number of businesses along Rand Road. Larry Shapiro photo

large brush fire in near Palatine IL Cook County Forest Preserve District 3-10-12 Palatine Fire Department Engine 82 Spartan Gladiator Crimson

Palatine Engine 82 was one of five units positioned on the property of a car dealership at Rand Road and Lake-Cook Road. Seen here on a hydrant, Engine 82 was supplying Quint 81 which had 800-feet of attack line stretching into the wooded and grassy area. Larry Shapiro photo

Firefighters were able to prevent communication to any structures and struck out the box alarm shortly after 10PM.

More images will be available in a gallery on Sunday as well as a video from the scene.

Tags: brush fire, heavy winds fuel brush fire in Palatine, Lake Zurich Fire Department, large brush fire, MABAS Box Alarm, Palatine Fire Department, wildland fire

Controlled wildland burn in January

Jan 17

Posted by bgshap in Fire, Reader submission | Comments off

Tim Olk submitted several images of a private wildland burn recently in South Elgin. The burn took place in a suburban area surrounded by residential homes and involved grasses over 20-feet tall.

controlled prairie burn in South Elgin

Tags: controlled burn, Tim Olk, urban interface prairie butn, wildland fire

Smoke smell permeates northern Illinois – update

Sep 14

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News | Comments off

Although the smoke smell and haze which was prevalent throughout northern Illinois yesterday seems to have subsided, Wildfire Today has an interesting follow-up to the fire which has grown to over 100,000 acres and is now resulting in evacuations. An interesting note in the article mentions that the “… fire that started in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) and was not suppressed for about two weeks …”

the largest fire in Minnesota since 1918. The Pagami Creek fire has burned 100,000 acres, according to the incident management team, and forced evacuations on the south and east sides of the fire. Scroll down to see maps of the fire.

It started from a lightning strike on August 18 and by August 30 had burned approximately 13 acres.

The staff at the BWCAW and the Superior National Forest decided to monitor it and allow natural processes to run their course. They conducted some firing operations, burning an additional 2,000 acres, to herd the fire away from populated areas on the north and west sides, but by last weekend it was obvious that they needed to suppress it.

Read the entire article HERE.

Tags: Minnesota wildfires, wildfire smoke permeates northern Illinois and Wisconsin, wildfiretoday.com, wildland fire

Long Distance follow-up

May 19

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News, Reader submission | Comments off

Last year we posted twice about something a bit out of our local area … enormous wildfires in Israel. A post HERE about the use of a Boeing 747 converted for use as an air tanker and HERE about the international mobilization to offer assistance. Bill Post, a frequent reader and source of information about the Chicago Fire Department, found an article HERE that he thought would be an interesting followup to the December posts. It details a recent wildfire in Israel that was handled by the new squadron of air tankers which was purchased in response to the deadly Carmel fire last year.

The IAF’s new firefighting squadron carried out its first operational sortie successfully Tuesday. The squadron was called in to fight a blaze that broke out at Hamat Gader, near the Sea of Galilee.

The field conditions made it impossible for fire trucks to approach the site, and the firefighting effort was made solely from the air.

The planes were scrambled from Megiddo Airfield, where the unit’s commanders set up a command room near the Fire Brigade headquarters. A total of 15 sorties from Megiddo to the fire location were carried out. Eleven tons of fire retardant material were dropped on the blaze.

The squadron is named after Elad Riven, a young volunteer who perished while fighting the huge Carmel fire earlier this year. The IAF’s lack of firefighting planes made it impossible to effectively combat that blaze, and the result was a horrible national tragedy in which 44 people died.

(IsraelNationalNews.com)

A video of the air drops can be seen HERE.

In January, IsraelNationNews.com posted this article about the air tanker purchase;

Israel will buy six firefighting planes from Canada for a total price of about $200 million. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Canadian defense minister Peter Gordon MacKay on Monday and worked out the details of the purchase. MacKay is visiting Israel.

The squadron will be named the Elad Squadron, in honor of 16 year old fire brigade volunteer Elad Riven, who was the youngest victim of the Carmel fire tragedy.

At the memorial ceremony for Riven, Netanyahu told his grieving family: “We salute you and the wondrous son you raised. One cannot always say about a boy who was taken after 16 years that he leaves us a legacy, but we can say it in the case of Elad – a legacy of infinite devotion to nation and state, a legacy of purity of heart and of clear, simple heroism.”

“Elad went to the heavens as a hero, and from the heavens, the pilots of the Elad Squadron will fly in order to save lives as Elad did,” he added.

Tags: air tanker, Bill Post, israel Fire Serivce, Wildfire in Israel, wildland fire

International wildland fire mobilization to Israel

Dec 4

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News | 1 Comment

Worth a read … Although not having to do with the Chicago area, most people know about the wildfire burning out of control in Israel. The international community is responding to aid the Israelis where more than 50 people have already died. This number includes 40 prison guards that were burned to death while on a bus en-route to assist with the evacuation of prison that was in the fire’s path.

Wildire Today has a comprehensive article HERE that lists the countries sending aid and the progression of the fire. They have another post HERE depicting the deployment of the world’s only Boeing 747 that has been fitted as a tanker for firefighting operations. For those interested in this supertanker, a few older articles provide some background HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Firegeezer also has extensive coverage with videos HERE.

A short perspective with some photos from an Israeli firefighter can be seen HERE.

Tags: 747, Evergeen, international aid, Israel, Supertanker, wildland fire